Christmas Facts: Day 7: Christmas Stockings

Like many of the traditions that are part of Christmas, Christmas Stockings may also have a pagan origin. Do you remember my discussion on Sanata Claus? Well, Christmas stockings go hand in hand with it and the Norse/Germanic god, Odin. According to Phyllis Siefker, a Christmas historian, children left their straw-filled boots by the chimney–some might add carrots–for Odin’s flying horse, Sleipnir. Odin would thank the children for their thoughtfulness by replacing the food for his horse with small gifts and sweets.

While some of the pagan practices disapperared with the advent of Christianity, this one persevered especially in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands where boots were replaced by shoes. In Bari, Italy, according to the Grandmother cult, she was the one who filled the stockings. Eventually, Odin and the Grandmnother blended with the story of St. Nicholas and later Santa Claus.

The trouble with oral tradition and folklore is that there are few written records. According to the legend of St. Nicholas, the Greek bishop saved three sisters from slavery by secretly providing each of them with a bag of gold coins, their father being too proud, or would that be too stubborn? to accept charity. The legend has several variations. Some say the bags of gold fell from the chimney into the stockings the girls had left by the fireplace to dry; others claimed he tossed the bags into the cottage through an open window, while still more claim he gave them each a gold ball–variations on a theme. If you would like to know more about the saint. Check this out. https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas

When people moved from boots to shoes and eventually stockings, they used their own, so big feet had more room for sweets and presents. As a child, my stocking always contained an orange, a treat back then when such fruit was rare. Then there were small toys, maybe a book since I loved to read, and of course candy canes, a rare treat as well. Eventually, knowing a good thing when they saw it, people began designing stockings specifically for this. Those stockings were and are still hung in some places on Saint Nicholas Day. In the early 1800s, they also came to be used on Christmas Eve when Father Christmas stepped into the picture. 

Today, you can get stockings in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they are by no means the only place Santa leaves toys and gifts. Checking under the Christmas tree for the big stuff is always nice.

That’s it. My seven days of the pagan origins of Christmas are complete. I hope that however you celebrate at this time of the year, that you have a wonderful holiday season.